Bandages
by Rorudesu-chan
Summary: Before Sakura could save him, she first had to understand what had become of Uchiha Sasuke. *A chapter 483/Shippuuden ep 212 remake* *Contains a lemon scene* *SasuSaku*


**Author's Note: **_Possible spoilers for those who haven't read chapters 482-483 of the manga, or haven't watched episode 212 of the Shippuuden series. **Contains a lemon scene****! **-Kishi-sensei owns Naruto manga, while TV Tokyo owns the Shippuuden franchise._

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><p><strong>Bandages<strong>

_rorudesu-chan_**_  
><em>**

"Would you really betray Konoha for me?" His onyx-black eyes shot a doubtful glare.

"Yes, if you say so." The fire in her emerald green ones hinted a proof of trust. But still, he needed to be sure.

"You'll have to prove it." He grinned evilly, and pointed to a fuchsia-haired woman who lay almost cold beside his feet. "If you kill her," he added. "I'll let you come with me."

He knew that it was not in her nature to agree to such conditions. However this time, his bargain seemed to be effective. The kunoichi before him took a kunai, fixed her eyes on the target, and went for the kill. The nukenin could not believe what he just witnessed. But he smiled, satisfied with her obedience.

"Come with me, Sakura."

She followed him, and they both left the battlefield in an instant.

**-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-**

Haruno Sakura looked at the red-orange horizon that stretched behind the hills. The setting sun looked as though it was on fire as it slowly crept away for the night. It had been an hour. She was hoping that the serum in that woman's body had worn off. The last thing she wanted was for Naruto, Kakashi, and the others to believe that she had actually killed that poor woman. Fortunately, she had one of her kunais smeared on the blade with a special serum that could put a person into a death-like state for around sixty minutes. She was planning to use the serum-stained dagger on Sasuke, in the event that she encounters him. She would stab him with it, and once the serum worked its way into his veins, she would take him back to Konoha, and everything, everything would slowly go back to the way it was. Team Seven – Hatake Kakashi, Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and of course, Uchiha Sasuke. It was a dream that she and Naruto had been chasing for almost three years. And she was still living in it. A fairy tale ending of a happy family. A vain wish to put the pieces of the puzzle back together. An impossible dream. But Sakura would try, try as hard as Naruto was doing now. No more tears. Only her heart that believed.

A figure walked up behind, surprising her. Sakura turned around. "Oho, so you're that medic-nin who replaced Karin!" It was that masked Akatsuki member who Sakura recalls, she and her team had encountered when they were pursuing Uchiha Itachi. "Welcome to the hideout!" He greeted cheerfully, and gestured a handshake. "Name's Tobi."

"Haruno Sakura," she replied flatly, not having any intentions of getting friendly with anyone who wore a black cloak with red clouds printed on it.

"Ahaha." He pulled back his right hand, and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, Sasuke's in his room. Down the hall, last door on the left."

Sakura silently nodded, not having any intentions as well to reward the enemy with a simple, 'thank you'. As she entered the torch-lit hallway, she felt a dark presence observing her from behind. She looked over her shoulder but the so-called, 'Tobi,' was no longer in sight. She swore she felt him glaring at her through that hole he had in his mask. It was as if he knew what she was hiding, as if he had already figured out her plan, but refused to expose her now to keep the show running.

Ridiculous, Sakura thought, the masked member looked like he was the dumbest of the bunch. She reached Sasuke's room, and brushed off the idea. She knocked twice, opened the door, and called out his name. There was no response, so she let herself in. Like the hallway, Sasuke's room was dim, only to be lit by a single candle on the side of the bed that rested in one corner. "Typical," Sakura whispered.

"What is?" Came a response. Sakura sensed a familiar chakra approaching from behind. She need not turn around to see who it was. She already knew.

"It's a typical evil hideout architecture," Sakura replied. "Because the place doesn't have enough light. That's what I meant." She felt his breathing blowing softly on her nape. It took her back to that night years ago – when he suddenly teleported behind her after she threatened to scream if he left the village; before he had knocked her out with a single strike of his hand on her neck. He acknowledged her, but still, he left.

"Hn," Sasuke breathed. "So why are you here, Sakura?"

"I'm here to heal your wounds, remember?"

"Ah." He took hold of her wrists, and led her to his bed. "Is that so?"

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura winced. A handsome boy with raven-black hair had pushed her down the mattress. She found it hard to escape, not because he had his knees locking her waist in between, but because her own body refused to move. And instead of struggling to free herself, she chose to lie there and lose herself in the dark eyes that were gazing at her from a small distance. She admitted. She was weak. Sasuke had taken off his upper clothing earlier – which had been drenched in his sweat and blood – and gave Sakura a mouthwatering sight of his bare chest and lean abs. She waited and wondered if this torture would go on.

"I have another goal, Sakura," he said softly. "Besides crushing Konoha."

"What is it, Sasuke-kun?"

"The restoration of my clan." He leaned close, touching her left ear with his lips. "Help me fulfill this goal, Sakura."

The kunoichi swallowed a breath. Sasuke's lips traced her jawline, before brushing them on her neck with his kisses. "Ngh," Sakura moaned as she felt her heart about to leap out of her chest with every contact that Sasuke made on her skin. "Sa…suke…kun."

The nukenin released her right wrist, as his hand moved to unzip her red medic outfit. He pulled off the strap of her black bra to expose a portion of her right breast. He cupped it, earning another soft cry from the medic-nin. Sasuke ventured next to her hips, where his hand snuck into her spandex shorts. His fingers found her warm core, and began digging a single digit past the lace of her underwear.

"Sa! Sa!" Sakura breathed repeatedly. She placed her free hand on Sasuke's shoulder and tried to push him off. But her attempt was futile. She weakened the moment he inserted a second finger, thrusting faster and deeper into her. She felt like she was about to come. But her mind begged for control. She had to fight back. She had to remind herself that she had not fallen so low in desperation that she would give in to this sensual moment with him – this boy whom she had been in love with since the day she first saw him.

"Sasuke!" She managed to put the syllables of his name together in one cry. She thought of Naruto-kun, Kakashi-sensei, and all her friends in Konoha who were risking their lives to bring this shinobi back. She shouldn't be selfish. She had to put back her focus on the mission that had pushed her to face him alone in the first place. She had gone a long way, and she was not going back home a failure – nor a mother of the future Uchiha heir.

But he had done his job below as she screamed in ecstasy as she released. His hand crawled out of her spandex shorts, and he tried to have her taste herself through her juice dripping in his fingers. But she refused, even if her insides screamed to pop his digits in her mouth and ask for more. Sasuke seemed to have misunderstood her actions, and proceeded to untying the huge, purple rope that fastened a piece of blue clothing to his black leggings.

"Sasuke-kun, please—_umff_!" Her words were muffled by Sasuke's mouth crashing down on hers. Needing. Wanting. Needing. Her tongue attempted to fight back his, but she seemed to have engaged herself in a sensual dance for domination. She needed to take over and control. This passion, no, this lust. It would not last for long. It shouldn't. What she wanted was Uchiha Sasuke. Not this man on top of her who simply needed her body for the production and multiplication of Uchiha child prodigies. Control. She had to clutch the reins tight, and pull back hard – before he could have everything his way again.

Sakura felt the tip of his member touching her wet opening. He had ripped her underwear off, and was about to insert himself into her when he felt a hand suddenly knocking him to the floor. Sasuke looked up, shocked beyond disbelief, but still kept calm. Sakura had hit him with her chakra-infused fist. "Sasuke-kun, please… stop."

Her body trembled all over. She covered her half-exposed chest with her arms, and bent close to her knees. Guilt struck her heart. Confusion messed her up. She was here to tend to Sasuke's battle injuries – not to give in to this irresistible, but fleeting, pleasure. But more importantly, she was here to bring him back to Konoha. She could not let her feelings for him take over her life as they once did. She needed to let go of him, in order to save him.

"Sasuke-kun, I still love," she paused. She heard his feet shuffling on the floor, indicating that he was standing up. "You."

He picked up his clothes, and began dressing up below. She felt her heart quickening its pace, as she saw him approaching. "But the Sasuke I love won't do anything like this!" She closed her eyes tightly, afraid that he would force himself on her, more aggressive this time. "The Sasuke I love would rather say I'm annoying! The Sasuke I love would stay away from me instead! The Sasuke I love would—"

"Enough." He pulled the bed sheets, draping them over her shoulders. "It's time for you to do your job." He sat down beside her, hunched over, waiting.

Sakura wrapped the sheets around her tighter. She got off the bed, found her underwear on the floor, and began fixing herself. Climbing back on the bed, she positioned herself behind Sasuke, and began performing her medical ninjutsu on the wounds on his back. As green-colored chakra emitted from her hands, she remembered what Sasuke had told her before he asked her to prove her desire to follow him. _I want to destroy Konoha. _The thought of him crushing the village was unbearable. But she shrugged it off, thinking that it was only mere bluff. But when Sasuke went as far as commanding her to kill off one of the members of his team Taka, she knew that something had changed in him – something that she could not fathom. Two years can change any person. Even Sasuke. She had just repeated before him that she did, indeed, love him still. But was he that same Sasuke she knew during their genin days? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Sakura wanted to find out.

"Why," she spoke, breaking the silence of the room. "Why didn't you return to us after you killed Itachi?"

The moment Sakura felt the man's name come out of her lips, she realized that she should not have mentioned it. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to start anything."

At first, she thought that Sasuke did not hear what she said, given that she spoke so softly that she felt like it was only she who had heard herself. Sakura proceeded with binding his chest wounds with a roll of bandage that she had always carried around. As she lifted his arms for the bandage strip to slip through, she heard his familiar grunt. "If I'm going to keep you around here for awhile, I might as well tell you why I'd rather destroy Konoha instead of coming home to it."

"For awhile?" Sakura paused, before resuming with her binding. "Sasuke-kun, I intend to stay by your side as long as you're fighting." Her voice became lighter. "Weren't you listening earlier when I said that I didn't want to have anymore regrets?"

"And I suppose, you're not planning anything at all behind my back?"

Sakura clipped the two ends of the bandage with a small, metal hook. "Nothing," she replied flatly.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing."

"We'll see about that, Sakura." He chuckled darkly.

The kunoichi clenched her teeth. She jumped off the bed, and began healing the injuries that he had sustained on his legs.

Sakura soon discovered that the fuel that had sparked the fire of his rage was the truth about his brother. Sasuke knew so much about Uchiha Itachi – the man who decided to wipe out the entire clan in order to test his capacity. But at the same time, he didn't know anything about him either – Itachi, his loving brother who had lived his entire life in a threshold; forced to choose between his clan's honor and the peace of his village. The truth drove Sasuke mad, and he plunged deeper into the abyss of vengeance, thinking that the only way out was through the darkness. The light had gone completely out of his sight. His only goal now was to take revenge on all the people who had destroyed Itachi's life, his family's, and his own.

The medic-nin started covering his right ankle, her hands shaking as she unbundled another roll of bandage. "And what will become of you after you destroy Konoha, Sasuke-kun?" She looked up at him, and noticed the red-orange light of the nearby candle reflecting on his onyx, black orbs.

"Who knows?" He continued to stare at the flickering flame. "Should it matter anyway? I'm an avenger. I don't care what happens after I finish my goal as long as I was able to do it."

Sakura dropped the bandaging cloth, and her arms instinctively wrapped around him. Her weight had pushed them back down on the bed as she buried her head on the crook of his neck.

"Get off me," he said in his usual cold tone. But the kunoichi did not move a muscle. "I'll kill you if I have to."

Still, she did not move. Sasuke thought that she was crying, as he had always known of her when it came to this kind of situation. When he left the village that night, he recalled, tears streamed down her cheeks endlessly. Perhaps she wouldn't have stopped then had he not knocked her out cold. Perhaps he should repeat that this time. But something seemed wrong. He didn't feel his shoulder wet, only the warmth of her breathing. He checked again to see if she had fallen asleep instead.

He was about to call out her name when her head raised to reveal a pair of bright, green eyes looking back at him. "Done!" she said cheerfully. "Sorry if I hurt you a bit."

"What the hell was that?" Sasuke sat upright as Sakura pulled herself off him.

"It's a technique that allows me to check the flow of your chakra." She fastened the last roll of bandage strip on his right ankle, and moved on to wrapping the left one. "You've used it all up, Sasuke-kun. But don't worry," she grinned. "You'll get better soon."

Sakura went on after a few minutes of silence. "So anyway," She hastened her bandaging and proceeded to healing his arm injuries which she followed-up with more binding. "The chuunin exams are coming up in a few months. You better prepare yourself. The test this year is going to be the toughest one yet, I heard. But you've been training for quite awhile, haven't you? I'm sure you'll ace it. Just like you always do with Kakashi-sensei's tests back then. Remember the bell challenge?"

Sasuke turned his eyes to the side as she stretched out his right arm gently. Sakura's hands glowed green. "Kakashi-sensei used to say that it wasn't really a challenge at all. It was more of a test of friendship. A test that had been passed down from generation to generation within the village of Konoha, to prove that the strongest power in the shinobi world there is…" she paused, finished with healing his arm. "Is friendship."

Quickly, she jumped off the bed and rushed towards the door. "I seemed to have run out of bandages. I'll go look for more." She turned the knob, and was about to swing the door open when she heard him scoff.

"I don't plan to go back on my word, Sakura. I will destroy Konoha."

"I don't plan to interfere, Sasuke-kun," she replied. "I said 'I'll follow you'. But," She looked over her shoulder. "He's done everything to catch up with you," she smiled. "I think he wants you to know that you mean more to him than Konoha."

She shut the door behind her, and ran a few paces away. She stopped at the opposite end of the hallway from where Sasuke's room was. Her back slid against the wall, her knees weakened, and she fell down. Her heart ached as it beat. Tears burst from her eyes, and streamed down her cheeks. She covered her mouth with a hand to muffle her cries. Control. But she couldn't keep it all in any longer. Everything that she once knew about Sasuke came tumbling down on her like huge waves crashing on the shore during a storm. He had changed; he had gone so far and deep that she couldn't just simply bend down and reach out a hand to him. All these years, she prepared herself for this moment. But still, she couldn't save him. She thought that by outwitting Sai, Kiba and Lee, she was ready to confront Sasuke all by herself. But she was wrong. She didn't understand him at all, the way Naruto did. Maybe, she thought to herself, the reason why she couldn't save him was not because she was weak. But because the hand that could reach him and was strong enough to pull him back to the light was no one else's, but Naruto's.

Sakura huddled close to her knees, and retrieved a roll of white cloth in her pocket. It was a spare, but she had lied to Sasuke about running out of bandage. She thought that there would be a better use for it. Unbinding the roll, she took the end strip of the cloth and dabbed it on the corners of her wet eyes and cheeks. She badly wanted to save Sasuke by herself because she didn't want to depend on Naruto anymore. But it seemed as though she had to once more.

_Naruto, please save Sasuke-kun. He's in so much pain, he doesn't even realize it._

She stood up, and wiped her face dry with the back of her palms. She headed towards the end of the hall, to the last door on the left. She couldn't be the one to save him because that goal – that dream – was reserved for Naruto. She would wait for the real hero to come. Meanwhile, she would stay by Sasuke's side as long as he kept on fighting. At least, she could save him in a way that a bandage cloth helps in healing battle wounds.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>_This is a one-shot I wrote about one of the things that could've happened instead on chapters 482-483 of the manga, or episode 212 of the Shippuuden series. I thought for sure that Kishi-sensei would put a definite twist in Sakura's character, but it turned out that she was still holding back. Well, I personally think that the Sakura I wrote here was still holding back, and didn't really make much of a difference... O_o But hey! She managed to trick Sasuke into having her replace Karin, right? XD Thanks for reading! Oh, and I was thinking of expanding this one-shot into a few chapters in which I could make Sakura understand more of what Sasuke is going through while on stand-by in Madara's hideout. Just some fan speculation, but it makes for a juicy fanfic plot! ^_^ Please do tell me what you guys think! _

_Drop me a review? :D_

_Constructive criticism is welcome too!  
><em>


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